Drawer-lock.



D M'UREA'U.

DRAWER LOCK. APPLICATION men MAYt3. 1914.

lfiwfifino Patented Sept. 18,1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

I a I i D. MUREAU.

DRAWER LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 13. 1914.

PatentedSept. 1917.

2 SHEETS- 2.

NTTED @TATE@ PATEN FFE.

DESIRE IVI'UREA'U', OF PARIS, FRANCE.

DRAWER-LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 18, 1917 Application filed May 13, 1914. Serial No. 838,355.

and useful Improvements in Drawer-Locks,

of which the following is aspecification.

This invention has for its ob ect to pro- 1 vide a drawer lock which is adapted to be operated by means of a number of draw bars, and whichtcomprisesfa combination mechanism which can be varied at will.

A lock constructed according to this invention affords a high degree of safety p of opening the lock.

against unauthorized 1 opening and it is characterized not only by its general arrangement, but more particularly by the construction of a reversible plunger bolt with one or more heads; by the construction of the operating draw-bars which it comprises and which can be rendered operative or inoperative at will, without taking the lock topieces in any way, for the purpose of rapidly varying the combination which serves to open the lock and allow the drawer to be pulled out.

A suitable construction of a lock coning drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an end elevation of a drawer provided with the improved lock, showing a row of draw-bars (for example, six) which are normally covered by a guard which allows the fingers of the operator to act upon the said draw-bars 'in'the direction capable Fig. 2 is a plan showing the mechanism of the lock, exposed by the removal of the lock plate that forms a cover hinged to the upper part of the lock casing.

' Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section on the line 'AB of Fig. 2.

lFig. 4 is an under side view ofthe lock showing more especially the mechanism for striking the hell or gong comprised therein.

5 shows in longitudinal elevation the reversible plunger bolt.

p Fig. 5 shows the bolt, Fig. 5, in cross section on line CD.

Fig. 6 shows separately inlongitudinal section and in plan one of the operating draw-bars of the lock.

Fig; 7 shows this draw-bar with its operative portion in a different position.

' Figs. '8 and 9 show modifications'of the drawings) mounted to slide in plunger fashion in guides 6, 6 (Figs. 2,3 and 5). These heads are acted upon by a spring 7 which has a constant tendency to return them into the projecting position. The guides 6, 6 are fixed to an axle 8 provided with journals at its ends. The mechanism comprising the axle 8, the guides 6, 6 and the heads 5, 5 is to be referred to hereafter as a whole under the collective name of reversible plunger bolt. The mere pressure of the drawer provided with a lock is suflicient to cause the heads 5, 5 to enter of themselves into their guides by means of their inclined surfaces; these heads are adapted to shoot back automatically again into their sockets and thus close the lock.

The bolt as a whole is mounted in the lock casing 4: in such a manner that it can revolve on its own axis and thus allow whenit is not engaged, its headsto rotate and consequently move out of engagement by the pull exerted upon the drawer in order to open same. The engagement of the bolt in its closing position is efiected by means of a rod 9 (Fig. 3) against which abut shoulders formed on the guides 6, 6. This engaging rod is suitably mounted in the sides of the lock casing, and when the lock is closed, the said rod rests freely on the top of blocks 10 provided on the draw-bars 1.

These blocks have each the shape of a pyramid (Fig. 6) whose narrow inclined opposite and symmetrical surfaces constitute the planes over which the rod 9 can slide in the case of those blocks which have been moved into the proper position. A stirrupshaped piecell connects the pyramid block of each draw-bar to the branch 12 of the latter in such a manner that by mere pushing in one direction or the other the said block will be moved either forward as shown in Fig. 6 or backward as shown on Fig. 7, that is to say its apex will be moved respectively into or out of the vertical plane of the rod 9.

The axle of the stirrup-shaped member 11 is mounted in a corresponding notch in the and 4) which is capable of rocking at=16on the saidcasi-ng. All the pins 14 arranged in the latter the entire :action of the :spring Normally tlie-l1ook- 17 engages a; part 21 rocking'on-a fixedaxle andcarrying a a hammer 22 adaptedto strike a bell or gong shown in 'dotted' lines in Figs. 3 and 4. On any one of-the draw-bars 1 being pulled tion of the blocks, the engaging rod'9 remains raised so long as the corresponding draw-bars have notbeenpulledfwhile when in the rear position they do not' oppose any resistance to this pull under the influence of the pulling of those draw-bars on which the blocks are in the forward position.

The forward portion. of' the'=draw-bar,

namely the portion situated under the drawer pull 2, is bentin theshape of ayliook for the purpose of being graspedand pulled byone finger'of the hand-of the operator.

A pin 14 screwed to the-lowerpart'of the draw-bar near the block 10 extends through the bottom of the lock casing and 18 81111- ated in front of'a cross piece 15"(Figs; 3

line'bear'upon the cross piece 15.,

. To this cross piece 15 there 1s pivoted a hook 17 (Fig. 4) subjectedto the opposing action of aispring 18 having aconstant tendency to "return the cross piece'back toward remained raised, the pull exerted upon these the line of pins 14. boss 19 of the hook 17 engages a projection QO'of'the cross andthe-same will happenif the other-drawpiece 15 for the purpose'oftransmitting to the cross piece-15 will rockand the hook 17 Will -act violentlyupon the hammer 22 which will then strike the gong. On the return of-the cross piece 15 the hook 17 will yield slightly under the influenceof the 1 side of the gong (Fig. 3) may be'applied hammer carrier. and will resumeits-position engaglng the latter ready for another operation.

If desired a damper 23 arranged byt-he against the latter so as to preventit from sounding. This damper is operated from the outside'by means of a knob 24 on the front of the drawer below the draw-bars. It allows of' deadening at will the striking of'the gong which accompanies every 0 jeration or attempted operation of the loc but with this peculiaritythat since this operat- -=ing knob is arranged among a number of lother knobs of similarappearance it will only be known by the person who is authorized to open the'drawer.

Another knob 25 similarly disposed .among otherknobs allowsofact1ng=upon a lever or member 26 (Figs. 11) designed to lock the cross piece 15 and thus prevent 1 any-operation of the lock.

- When the cross piece 15 is not locked and draw b ar.

I ifthe draw'bars are pulled; the blocks 10 of which have been moved intotheir forward position (Fig. 2) the operating rod 9 ivill be' -depressed. Said operating rod 9 normally prevents the rotation of the guides '6 around the axles 8 in such a manner that any sudden pull exerted with the intention bf opening the drawer is immediately overcome by-said rod 9; if, however, the rod is pressed down through the normal action of the draw-bars 1, no resistance will be offered-to the rotation o'fthe respective guides 6=which under the influence of a pull exerted position so that the' draw-bars 1' which were actuated are immediately returned into their normal positions 7 by they-spring 18 acting upon' the cross piece 15. The-heads 5 of the lockingboltare mounted-yupon springs 7 loc'ateclwvltliln a recess formed-at the rear end of said locking bolt, so that they give way under the pressureof the drawer and fall back again into the recess of the bolt.

It will be noted thatif the damper 23l-1as draw bars will cause thefgongto sound bars have" been pulled instead ofthe proper ones, so that this gives an audibleyalarm of the factgthatiian attempt has-beenmade to open the lock. p Instead of he knobs provided below the draw-bars holes may be provided-into which -theremay be engaged at Willa mo vablefpin adapted to operate'thedamper 23- andthe locking member 26. I V i any-case'the draw-bars which have been upulled, when released by; the operator, are returned into their normal position by the spring 18 which has'been stressed bylt-he pulling of the said" draw-bars. I Thevaction of this single spring may be sreinforced by means. of leaf springs provided for each we From the foregoing lit will be v understood that itwill be easy to caus e any Jdesired draw-bars to becomeoperative for opening the look so that any .desired combination may be; produced. For this} purpose it is merelynecessary to lift the cover Band to operate the pyramid blocks: 10 by simply moving them forward or backwardl Q When moving forward they become operative; when moving backward they become' inoperative. As will be seenthe ehangingof the combination may be efiected instantaneously without taking the lock apart in any way.

The blocks of the draw-barsmayi have the modified shape shown at 10 in .Fi: s. 8

and 9, that isto say, instead of being apted to sl de they are made reversible:

mounted on a pivot 14. The pivot which is of square cross section extends below the draw-bar and performs at the same time the function of the pin 14 for actuating the cross piece 15. The pressure exerted by the latter will then have the effect of securing the operative or inoperative position of the block 10 imparted to the latter,

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:

1. A combination lock for drawers, comprising in combination, a casing, a bolt pivotally mounted 011 said casing, a series of draw-bars slidably mounted in said casing, blockssecured to one end thereof, and means slidably mounted in said casing coacting with said blocks and means to retain said blocks in one of two positions, substantially as described.

2. A combination lock for drawers, comprising in combination a casing, a bolt pivotally mounted on said casing, a series of draw-bars slidably mounted in said casing, handles formed at oneend thereof, actuating members secured to the inner end of said draw-bars and a transverse bar slid ably mounted in said casing coacting with said bolt and actuating members to retain said bolt in one of two positions, substantially as described.

3. A combination lock for drawers, com prising in combination a casing, a bolt pivotally mounted on said casing, a series of drawmediate said blocks and said bolt, said 1 blocks being operative in one of two positions and adapted to coact with said bar to retain said bolt in one of two positions, substantially as described.

a. In a combination lock for drawers, a casing, draw-bars slidably mounted in said casing each provided with a depression intermediate its ends, springs secured to the front wall of said casing, and to the front part of said draw-bars, stirrups above the depressed part of said draw-bars, blocks pivotally mounted in said stirrups, a transverse rod slidably mounted in the walls of said casing, an axle journalecl in the side walls of said casing, guides on said axle, heads sliding in said guides and a spring secured to the central guide tending to return said heads into their closing position, said rod normally resting upon said blocks and during operation to engage shoulders of said guides, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DESIRE MUREAU. lVitnesses Lr'ion FRANGKEN, OHAs. P. PRESSLY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. (2. 

